Simultaneously, three European Service Modules (ESMs) are being assembled in cleanrooms at Airbus' Bremen facility. The integration of ESM-3 is almost finished while ESM-4 is progressing smoothly. The recent ESM-5 structure is now the primary focus of the initial assembly steps. Each ESM involves putting together over 22,000 individual parts.
This is a historic moment as it is the first time NASA has given the responsibility of building a crucial component for an American human space mission to a non-American company, Airbus, through the European Space Agency (ESA). According to Marc Steckling, Head of Space Exploration at Airbus, the company, in partnership with the European Space Agency, is providing half of the spacecraft for the mission to return humans to the moon.
This mission will take astronauts further into space than ever before and bring them back safely to Earth. Airbus has already delivered the first two European Service Modules (ESMs), with ESM-2 being integrated at Kennedy Space Center. The arrival of ESM-4 last summer and ESM-5 before Christmas marked the start of serial production. The cleanroom facilities at Airbus have been optimized to simultaneously handle three ESMs, and the company is on track to meet NASA's requirement of delivering one ESM per year, as reported by Spacewatch.
Key Component of Orion Mission
The European Service Module (ESM) is a vital component of NASA's crewed Orion spacecraft. It acts as the main propulsion system for the spaceship, providing the capability for orbital maneuvering and positioning control. Additionally, the ESM is responsible for generating and distributing electrical power and supplying the crew with crucial life support elements such as water and oxygen. The ESM also manages thermal control while connected to the crew module, and it can carry additional payloads as an unpressurized service module. The European Space Agency (ESA) has invested approximately €2 billion in the Orion program and contracted Airbus to lead the European consortium and construct six ESMs to date.
In 2022, the first Artemis mission was carried out using the first Orion spacecraft powered by ESM-1. The spacecraft traveled over 2 million kilometers, endured a temperature range that exceeded 200°C, and reached speeds of up to 40,000 km/h (or 11 km/s). All systems were tested and performed exceptionally well, with some even exceeding expectations. ESM-2 was delivered to Florida in October 2021 and is currently being tested and integrated at Kennedy Space Center. It will be used in the crewed Artemis II Mission, which will mark the first-time astronauts who have flown around the Moon and returned to Earth since 1972. The launch of the Artemis II mission is planned for 2024.
The final integration of ESM-3 is underway, and it will power the Artemis III Mission, which will feature the first woman and the first person of color setting foot on the moon. The delivery of ESM-3 is planned for the second half of 2023, and the mission is estimated to take place no earlier than 2025. The ESM-4 structure arrived at Airbus' Bremen cleanroom in June 2022 and is in the process of being integrated while work has already begun on the newly arrived ESM-5 structure. ESMs 4, 5, and 6 will be used for the Artemis IV to VI missions, the first two of which are part of Europe's contribution to the international Gateway, a space station being assembled in lunar orbit.
The Orion ESM is cylindrical in shape and approximately four metres in diameter and height. At launch, it weighs a total of just over 13 tonnes, making up roughly 5/3 of the Orion spacecraft’s total mass.
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Developing European Service Module
Both ESA and NASA aim to create a Moon ecosystem (Gateway, Argonaut) to better understand and explore the moon and to prepare for future crewed missions to Mars. In November 2022, the authorization of ESMs 7, 8, and 9 was given at the ESA Ministerial Council, and Airbus is finalizing its proposal to provide them. The Orion ESM is cylindrical in shape and measures about four meters in diameter and height. At launch, it weighs over 13 tonnes, accounting for roughly 60% of Orion's total weight. Its 8.6 tonnes of fuel power the main engine, eight auxiliary thrusters, and 24 smaller thrusters for attitude control, as WebWire reports.
The European Service Module is installed under the crew module at Kennedy Space Center in the US, and together they form the Orion spacecraft. Airbus engineers, along with ESA and industry partners from 10 countries, produce the ESMs. The ESM production is based on Airbus' experience gained from the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), which made five trips to the ISS between 2008 and 2015. The Artemis I mission marked the beginning of a series of complex missions aimed at enabling human exploration of deep space and returning astronauts to the Moon. Europe is playing a leading role in this major space endeavor. The first flight was highly informative, with all objectives related to the ESM being successfully achieved.
The evaluation of the test data has indicated that the Orion spacecraft used less propellant and electrical power while generating more power than predicted. The propulsion system functioned as expected, providing the necessary thrust for precise orbital maneuvering and vehicle control. The main engine was fired multiple times with a total burn duration of 10 minutes, as planned. NASA has confirmed that the mission performance was better than expected, with almost 2 tonnes of propellant remaining at the end of the mission, allowing for future missions of longer duration or higher mass. Additionally, the solar arrays generated 15% more electrical power than specified, and the spacecraft consumed less electricity due to smaller temperature fluctuations than anticipated.
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